Alright, we're a little late with this article - we were waiting and waiting and waiting for the WSOPE main event final table to conclude, but even we have our limits. Before the final table started, Daniel Negreanu predicted that it would take 15 hours to complete. You had nine strong players participating in a deep-stacked final table, which is a recipe for a marathon. Well, even Daniel must have been surprised at how long the final table took, as it clocked in at about 22 hours.

In the end, John Juanda took down the event and the 869k pound first place prize. Heads-up play between Juanda and eventual second-place finisher Stanislav Alekhin took almost eight hours to complete as the two exchanged the chip lead many times. The end came after 484 hands - Alekhin moved all-in preflop holding A-9 offsuit, and Juanda called holding K-6 of spades. The flop came 6-6-2, and Alekhin was almost drawing dead. The Queen on the turn sealed the deal for Juanda - he actually ended up making quads on the river to close out the tournament in style.

The decisive hand of the tournament had come five hands earlier. On a flop of K-Q-7 with two clubs, both of the players got their chips in the middle, with Alekhin holding the 4-3 of clubs for a flush draw, while Juanda held K-6 of hearts for top pair. No clubs came on the turn or the river, and Juanda took down the monster pot.

This was Juanda's fourth World Series of Poker bracelet. He had previously won two bracelets in 2003 (in the $2500 PLO and $2500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo Split event) and one in 2002 (in the $1500 Triple Draw Lowball Ace to Five event).

All eyes were on Ivan Demidov heading into the final table. Demidov had a chance to win both the World Series of Poker main event (he is one of the "November Nine") and the World Series of Poker Europe main event in the same year. Demidov performed admirably at the final table but was unable to pull out the victory - he ended up finishing in third place after his flush draw couldn't beat John Juanda's overpair. Demidov ended up collecting 334k pounds for his third place finish, plus he is currently sitting second in chips at the paused World Series of Poker main event final table that is picking up in November. Demidov could conceivably win nine million dollars in that event. He also picked up some valuable final table experience that will no doubt come in handy in November.

Two more well-known names were involved in the final table as well - Daniel Negreanu and Scott Fischman. Both were looking to pad their World Series of Poker bracelet totals, but neither was successful. Fischman was bounced in sixth place after running into the nut straight of Stanislav Alekhin, while Daniel Negreanu went out in fifth place for 217k pounds.

All in all, this was a great main event final table that included an interesting mixture of well-known "pros" and amateur talent. John Juanda joins Annette "Annette_15" Obrestad as a fellow World Series of Poker Europe main event champion. Both outlasted 361 players to take down their respective titles.